


Grocery Shopping

by CoreyWW



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Cereal, Comedy, Dramedy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grocery Shopping, Happy Ending, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Shopping, Short, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 08:24:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13231848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWW
Summary: When Peridot is depressed by recent Lapis related events, Steven takes her grocery shopping to cheer her up.(Post Raising the Barn).A Secret Santa gift fic for Realfakedoors.





	Grocery Shopping

**Author's Note:**

  * For [realfakedoors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realfakedoors/gifts).



Peridot had been watching water drain down the sink for a half hour when Steven walked into the bathroom.

“Hey Peridot!” Steven said, holding a piece of paper in his hand. “Do you want to—”

Steven stopped when he noticed Peridot staring at the water. Again.

“Um... Everything okay, Peridot?” Steven asked.

“Um. Yes,” Peridot said, turning off the sink. “I was simply rinsing my touch stumps of microscopic organisms.” Peridot wiggled her fingers. “Your planet is filthy and such matters are necessary.”

“Oh,” Steven said. “That’s... good.”

Peridot could tell he didn’t buy that, but thankfully he didn’t say so.

Steven cleared his throat.

“Well I, um... I wanted to ask if you’d like to go grocery shopping with me.” He waved the paper in his hands. “My dad had something at the car wash to take care of, so he asked me to do it.”

“Groceries?” Peridot said. “What’s that?”

“You know, like, food and stuff. So that I have things to eat.”

Peridot rolled her eyes.

“I can’t understand why you spend time obtaining and preparing this ‘food’ anyway,” Peridot said. “It seems incredibly time consuming.”

“Well... If I don’t eat anything, I’ll die. So I don’t mind.”

“... _Oh_.”

“So... Wanna come with?”

Peridot thought for a moment, glancing at the sink.

Steven gave an uneasy smile.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Steven said. “I can take care of—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Peridot said. “I shall accompany you.”

 _It would probably be enjoyable to get away from the bathroom today anyway_ , Peridot thought. Perhaps it would get her out of the mood she was in.

“Great!” Steven said. “I’ll go get our ride.” He shouted as he walked into the hallway. “ _LIIIIIION_!”

* * *

Steven put a quarter in the parking meter as Lion laid down in the parking space.

“Okay, Lion. We’ll be back in a few minutes,” Steven said as he and Peridot stepped off his back. “Stay right there.”

Lion simply curled up into a ball, saying nothing.

“Okay, love you!” Steven said.

Peridot rolled her eyes at the strange creature and followed Steven towards the building. The words “PANTRY PARTY” were printed on front.

“Why are we going to a party?” Peridot asked.

“Oh, no, it’s not a party,” Steven said. “It’s just the name of the store. Because shopping is fun!”

“Hm. _Thrilling_.”

Steven clasped her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you’ll like this.” They approached the entrance.

“I doubt anything will be that—” Peridot stepped towards the door, which slid open automatically as she approached. “ _Whoa_!”

“Cool, huh?” Steven said.

“I wasn’t aware your planet’s technology was advanced enough to do that.”

“We’re pretty amazing, yeah. Let’s get a cart.”

Steven approached a line of metal transportation apparatuses.

“What are these for?” Peridot asked.

“You get one of these and we put our groceries in it so we don’t have to carry them all by hand.”

“Hm. I suppose that’s thoughtful.” Peridot approached the “cart” and noticed most of them had a small area to sit in the front. “Do we ride in it?”

“Well, I can push and you can ride if you want.” Steven chuckled and pointed to another cart, one which appeared more colorful than the others. “You could ride that one. It has a plastic steering wheel on it and everything.”

Peridot turned and noticed the cart Steven was referring to and considered for a moment...

* * *

Minutes later, Peridot was seated in the cart, steering the plastic wheel as Steven pushed.

“Having fun?” Steven asked.

Peridot turned the wheel and grumbled.

“These controls aren’t functional,” Peridot mumbled.

“It’s still fun to use though!” Steven said.

“That’s besides the point.” Peridot sat back in the seat. “Exactly what food do we need to get to keep you alive again?”

“Oh well...” Steven reached in his pocket and pulled out the sheet of paper. “Let’s go get some cereal first.”

Steven pushed the cart down an aisle lined with colorful boxes. His eyes lit up.

“Wow... There’s so much good stuff here,” Steven said. “Which cereal do you think would taste the best?”

“I don’t eat.”

“Oh. Heh, well you could try it. Amethyst likes to eat.”

“Hm.” Peridot shook her head uncertain.

Steven shrugged. “Well, just stay with the cart. I’m gonna go look for the Kix.”

Steven walked further down the aisle as Peridot folded her arms, still seated in the cart. She glared at the steering wheel. Perhaps if she used her metal powers she could...

Peridot’s thoughts were interrupted as her eyes glossed over the boxes of cereal and fell on a box called “Fruity Pebbles.”

Peridot’s eyes went wide. Pebbles? As in... _Gems_?

She analyzed the box, which appeared to display a human who didn’t know how to clothe himself properly with a big bowl of colorful Gems. Well, they didn’t look _exactly_ like Gems but close enough that Peridot felt a chill.

_Do these humans simulate eating Gems? I mean they can’t be real Gems, right?_

_...Right?!_

She imagined being a Gem, trapped in a box like that, with nothing to look forward to...

Like Lapis when she was in the mirror.

Peridot felt short of breath. Her hands began to shake. Unable to think of anything else, she pulled herself out of the cart.

* * *

“Ah, there you are,” Steven said, pulling the box of Kix off the shelf. “Connie tested and Steven approved!” He chuckled. He turned to walk back towards the cart.

He was glad Peridot had decided to come along with him. Even though she hadn’t said it, Steven knew she was going through a lot after Lapis had left. She’d been staring at water on her bad days lately. Peridot didn’t think Steven and Amethyst noticed it that often, but they did.

At least she seemed to be having a good time now, Steven thought.

Steven felt something crunch under his feet. He looked down and saw Fruity Pebbles scattered all over the floor.

“Huh?” Steven said. “Wait, wha—”

He looked up as he approached the cart and noticed Peridot outside the cart, surrounded by four ripped boxes of Fruity Pebbles, the contents of which were covering the floor. She sat on the pile of cereal with a sour expression on her face.

Steven ran up, hands at his side.

“Peridot! What happened? Are you alright?” he said.

Peridot’s eyes darted down, clearly embarrassed.

“I panicked and thought that particular box might have contained Gems,” Peridot said. “And after tearing open a few, I realized I had made a miscalculation.”

“Ohhh.” Steven nodded. “No, these aren’t Gems. They’re... Well, I’ve never actually read the ingredients, but I’m sure it’s mostly just sugar and Yellow Number Five in there.”

Peridot stiffened.

“Oh, that doesn’t have anything to do with Yellow _Diamond_ or anything. Yellow Number Five is a food coloring.”

“Oh. Yes. Of course.” Peridot’s shoulders seemed to relax. “I knew that...”

Peridot picked up a blue pebble between her fingers. “I suppose if I’m being honest, imagining Gems trapped in the box reminded me of Lapis.” She sighed and flicked the piece of cereal away. “I’m an idiot.”

“Oh... No, no.” Steven sat next to Peridot. “Being reminded of Lapis doesn’t make you an idiot.”

“I think it does. Because everything reminds me of Lapis.” She frowned. “The water in the sink. Our crops. Whatever these things are.” She shifted on top of the cereal as they crunched underneath her. “I’m unaware of how to get over it.” Peridot rested her face in her hands. “Sometimes I think it would have been easier if I never came to this planet, just so I wouldn’t have had to deal with this at all.”

Steven stared at Peridot, frowning.

“Well, I can understand that type of feeling,” Steven said. “But if you hadn’t come to this planet, I would never have been friends with you either. And that would be really sad, ‘cause I think you’re a great friend.”

“You do recall I tried to eliminate you the first time we met, right?” Peridot said.

“Well yeah, but so had everyone,” Steven said with a chuckle. He clasped his hands together. “It’s... It’s okay to feel sad sometimes. But I don’t want you to get so sad, you just wish you hadn’t come here. Because I’m glad you’re here.” Steven gave a weak smile. “Does... that make you feel better?”

“ _No_ ,” Peridot flatly.

Steven, undeterred, gave Peridot a small hug.

“How about now?” Steven asked.

“...maybe,” Peridot said reluctantly. She cleared her throat. “Wow, thanks.”

Steven smiled. Peridot exhaled and stood up.

“So what shall we do about the mess I made?” Peridot said.

“Well,” Steven said, rubbing his chin. “We should do the responsible thing and—”

Before he could finish, Mr. Smiley came around the corner of the cereal aisle. Steven felt his heart in his throat as he saw Mr. Smiley’s eyes grow wide.

“STEVEN!” Mr. Smiley said. “WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

Steven grabbed Peridot’s hand and said, “We run. Now we run!”

Without any other prompting, Peridot turned and ran towards the front door, nearly slipping on Fruity Pebbles as she went.

Steven stopped for only a moment to pick up his box of Kix, reach in his pocket and throw a random amount of money towards Mr. Smiley’s path.

“IT’S FOR THE KIX, KEEP THE CHANGE!” Steven said as he turned and ran. He heard Mr. Smiley yell after him, but he didn’t look back.


End file.
